Childhood...Literary and Cinematic Inspiration

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This book examines seven French language films, produced between 1952-1991 by well-known directors, which have enjoyed considerable popular and critical success. In these films--Jeux interdits (Forbidden Games) film by René Clément based on the story by François Boyer, Les Quatre cents coups (The Four Hundred Blows) by François Truffaut, Rue Cases-Nègres (Sugar Cane Alley) film by Euzhan Palcy based on the novel Black Shack Alley by Joseph Zobel, Le Grand-Chemin (The Grand Highway) by Jean-Loup Hubert, Au Revoir les enfants (Good-bye, Children) by Louis Malle, La Gloire de mon père (My Father's Glory) and Le Château de ma mère (My Mother's Castle) films by Yves Robert based on Souvenirs d'Enfance (Memories of Childhood) by Marcel Pagnol--one finds a unifying common denominator: childhood. During these years French society was in a sense rediscovering itself through the innocence and vulnerability of children. This study highlights the narrative styles of the literary works and their filmic adaptations by analyzing temporal schemes, subjectivity of narration and focalization, child-heroes defined by their entourages, rites of passage, the meeting of childhood and myth, childhood as the source of literary and cinematographic variations, and the critical view of society and the human condition presented by each filmmaker. This study is richly illustrated with stills from the various films. Also available in French from Summa Publications, Inc. Awards 2011 International Book Awards Winner 2011 National Indie Excellence Book Awards Winner Critiques "Carol Altman presents French books and films about childhood that have attracted an extensive audience ... and were celebrated world wide: ... a remarkably informed and fascinating work for all audiences. She also underlines in each work its unique resonance and charm, the echos of the society and of History, and the power of the presence of the poetic and creative imagination. The public will find in her book important contributions to the understanding of both the source of emotions inspired by, and the reflections on the search for meaning in, what one could call the myth of childhood." --Francine Dugast, Professor emeritus, University of Rennes 2, France. Former directress of the National Institute for Pedagogical Research, Paris. "This book will ... clearly appeal to, and be useful for, a wide range of readers interested in film, literature, adaption or images of childhood in cultural production. Many scholars now working in the field of children's literature began by examining the figure of the child in literary works more generally, perhaps comprehensive and impressive studies of the child in film such as Altman's will similarly lead to the opening up of scholarly interest in films for the young." -French Studies, Kiera Vaclavik, University of London